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The reader is a story about Michael Berg who has a love affair over a summer at the age of 15 with Hanna Schmitz who is twice his age. Michael is devastated when Hanna disappears one day without warning, however some years later when he is studying at law school he stumbles across her during her trial for murder. As said in the review at http://www.screenwize.com/archives/383 The Reader ‘is an intriguing journey – love story without love, war story without war’.
It asks the question how far would you go to protect a secret? As Hanna does not want to admit that she is illiterate even at the cost of her life and justice.
It is quite an arty film with a very interesting opening scene of Michael as an older man making breakfast for the women he has just seduced. The camera spans across the kitchen bench and focuses on the cup and saucer yet you can see the teapot in the background as he puts it down.
The locations show a beautiful side the Germany during a time of ugly NAZI war. There actor’s faces are lit in quite a dull manner maybe as a way to reflect the ugliness of war events going on at the time.
The film almost rationalises many socially unaccepted issues such as love between an adult and a minor and also the murdering of the Jews during wartime as Hanna asks the judge during her trial ‘Well what would you have done?’ to which there is no answer. The film portrays Hanna not as a murderous monster yet as a social outcast who is misunderstood.
Although The Reader is a sombre film it has an element of humour and is more realistic then it would have been if Hanna did not kill herself and if she and Michael had rekindled their love.
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